“WE will all go into the ground in the same box.”
This was the message from one County Limerick politician to Israeli forces waging war on the ground in Gaza.
During a Dáil debate on Ireland recognising the State of Palestine, Independent Ireland TD Richard O’Donoghue had a strong message for those waging war in the region.
“My message to the people who are waging war just to get more power, land, or whatever, is that there is no hitch on a hearse. When they go to their eternal reward, they can take none of this with them. They should use their time on this earth to help people and not cause harm,” he said.
“What value is given to life? If recognising Palestine saves one life, is it not worth it?” the Limerick TD mused.
Deputy O’Donoghue hit out that people at war have no respect for the humanitarian agencies working on the ground.
“They dismiss it and say, ‘Oh, I am sorry about that. We killed 34 people’. What type of people are we dealing with who have no respect for life?” he asked.
“What is it they are actually fighting for? Is it more land? Is it more power? They have no respect for the same people they say they represent.”
Deputy O’Donoghue said he had “one thing to say to those people, which is that we will all go into the ground in the same box”.
“There is an old saying in this country: there is no hitch on a hearse. No matter what you do in this life you should respect people, regardless of their religion or race and, hopefully, they will respect you for whatever you follow in life.
“When we do come to the end of our days, and when we go into the ground for our next reward, people should be able to say that we tried to help people in life and respected them. There is very little respect left in the world when we see the number of wars that are going on at the moment.”
